Education for Empathy: Creating a Writing Classroom Where All Students Flourish

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” -Maya Angelou

How do we create a classroom where all students feel accepted? Encourage risk-taking and Growth Mindset? What do we do when conflict among students arises? How do we reach students who feel they do not fit the academic “mold”?

As passionate professional educators, we know much about the nuts and bolts of Writer’s Workshop and the pieces we need to put together to help students be successful writers. We are less able to articulate what makes a classroom feel great, and how to encourage a teaching environment that our students want to write-or even be-in. In this Open Session, we will learn how to create the kind of environment where all students reach for their personal best while supporting others to achieve theirs: 1) Step Up your Writer’s Workshop game with Multi-Genre Writing; 2) Classroom Management from the Trauma-based Perspective; 3) Mindfulness Techniques for the Classroom.

All programs will be offered for two units. Participants can also elect to add a third unit by writing an “extra credit” paper.